


A Chance of Slime

by Komorii



Category: Martin Mystère | Martin Mystery
Genre: F/M, Half-baked plots to take over the world by evil creatures, Magic, Martin attempting to flirt, Romance, Slime, Supernatural Creatures, University Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 07:56:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18774475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Komorii/pseuds/Komorii
Summary: You took an unlikely offer to spend your last year of university at a private university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, excited and nervous to finish your year out in a new place. But your normal school year is thrown into chaos when you're attacked by mosquito monsters and then saved by a strange trio, and then burdened with the knowledge of what happened when all other civilians have their memories erased. You're desperate to keep a low profile and avoid running into the paranormal investigation group but are finding it hard when you go to the same school and they keep seeking you out, especially the blonde guy with the dumb pick up lines you pretend don't effect you.





	A Chance of Slime

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a Martin Mystery story a long time ago and wanted to transfer it over to this site, but felt that the writing was too awful so I decided to write a new one! All characters are aged up to late university, around 22!

This was all very new to you. 

You had been in your room, searching for any academic scholarships you could find and applying to them. It didn’t even matter what the scholarship was for, you just applied to everything and hoped to get lucky and get enough money to finish out your last year of university. It took about two weeks with absolutely no responses, not even rejection emails, before you finally got something. A school in Quebec, Canada, had responded to your application. You quickly skimmed through the email, looking for the final determination before you would go back read it more fully. No use in reading all the details of a rejection email. You didn’t have to look far, because in the first paragraph of the email, it informed you that you would be given a full scholarship for your last year of university if you went to that school. 

You had been floored for a moment; your application wasn’t even that great. You were hoping you would get one from a university nearby that took pity on you, and you definitely weren’t expecting one from Quebec. But as time went on, you received only rejection letters, and so you took the offer that was given to you and were off to Quebec to finish your university journey. 

It was a week before the fall term started, and you were taking a walk around, stuck of being cooped up in your hotel room, which you were stuck in for now because you weren’t allowed to move into your dorm room until the first day of school. It was still warm out, and you had just gone to buy yourself something to eat that wasn’t the awful food that hotel had for breakfast. After you went downstairs the first morning and had discovered moldy cereal, you were not trying that again. That must have been sitting there for a while to get moldy, and they didn’t seem to have employees who cared if customers got sick, so that was not an option you were willing to explore. 

You were walking around a fairly busy street as you pondered your situation. You were hoping you could make some friends, since it would be very lonely without anybody to talk to in a place you weren’t used to. Looking around, you caught sight of a bakery that had a line that trailed out the door. Seemed like a good place to get food if the line was that long. You didn’t have anywhere to be any time soon, so you didn’t mind waiting. 

You walked over and stood in line behind an old couple who were talking about what they would get at the bakery. The husband had begun to insist that cupcakes were just for today’s youth when you tuned them out and began to stare into space as you waited for the line to move. Checking your phone as the line moved ahead one foot, you saw that it had been five minutes already. Was everyone ordering a thousand pastries to go or something?  

You heard some shouting from inside and rolled your eyes. Somebody must have got impatient and started yelling. At least maybe that would make the line go faster if some people got kicked out of it. You really wanted a fancy pastry out of this and were going to get it no matter how long you had to wait in line for! You crossed your arms as you tried to look around the line to see the commotion as there was still yelling that you couldn’t make out, but no luck. You were brought more directly into the situation as the elderly couple ahead of you in line was pushed back into you. 

“What-” 

You backed up as much as you could considering there were now people behind you in line and the elderly couple quickly moved to the side and down the street to escape the commotion. They were able to exit the crowd but you were not able to get out yourself as a mass of people pushed out of the door, a man knocking into you and pushing you to the ground in his desire to leave. You stood up hastily, palms stinging with new scrapes as you attempted to dodge the people running out of the store. What was going on? 

As soon as everyone had passed you without trampling you, you got up, examining the stinging cuts on your hands. You were confused, but couldn’t help as your curiosity drove you to go and see what had happened? Did someone punch someone else? You couldn’t imagine what drove everyone out of the store like that. You walked slowly over to the open door and walked in. 

Inside you found that the store walls were a light blue color with a long counter lined with delicious-looking pastries behind glass. You would have taken more time to look at it had there not been a giant bug hovering over a man wearing an apron who was lying on the ground. It looked like a giant purple mosquito man, and you found that you couldn’t take your eyes off the scene. Was this a weird promotion for the store with their mascot, mosquito-guy? 

You felt a shiver go down your spine as you watched the man on the ground start to change. His body grew larger and his clothes ripped off to reveal a dark purple abdomen and thorax. You felt frozen as you continued watching his transformation as you stood in the doorway, the chaos outside forgotten. The original bug man stood above the new one, watching as extra limbs grew and became slender and the man sat up as large wings grew behind him and he grew an elongated stinger from his mouth, his face warping beyond anything that would ever be considered human as all of him tinted that deep, bruise-purple, unlike the original creature which was a brighter shade of purple 

By this point, you knew that you needed to get the hell out of here. This was not good, and certainly not natural. You backed up in shock at seeing the man turn into a mosquito monster, and hit the open door with your back, ringing the bell on the door loudly. Your wide eyes looked up at the bell that you didn’t realize was there and then slowly back down to meet what you assumed were the eyes of the original bug monster, only to find that its giant bug eyes were now on you. You stiffened for only a moment before you turned and ran out of the door, twin horrific monstrous screeches sounding out from behind you, but you refused to turn and see what the creatures were doing. If what you watched was any clue, you would be next if you didn’t get out of here. 

The street outside was relatively normal; all of the customers in the bakery were long gone since none had made the mistake of staying like you had. You knew all hell would break loose as soon as those creatures got out of the bakery, but you didn’t have any time to warn the others on the street unless you wanted to be next. With the only clue of trouble being your frantic sprint to get away, most passersby were none the wiser. Your legs were hurting with the sprinting you were currently doing, but it was a good thing you were as you heard screams ring out behind you. 

You rushed to a restaurant that had been abandoned by screaming people who were desperately running in all directions away from the creatures. The restaurant had a large outdoor dining section with tablecloths that reached the floor, and with no other option, you dove under one, hoping the two creatures hadn’t seen you. Staying as still as you could, you lifted a tiny section of the tablecloth at the bottom so you could see what was going on, only risking one eye to look out, the left side of your head pressed to the floor to allow you to look out. 

It was chaos. The two mosquito monsters had become more, and you watched as they descended on people who were too slow to get away. When the large creatures bit an unwilling victim, they fell to the ground in convulsions, before beginning the transformation you had previously watched. You were freaking out; what was happening? And what were you supposed to do, hidden under a table, feeling very vulnerable. 

You heard some police sirens heading your way, but what was more of note was the army of creatures that had now been transformed. There were so many that you didn’t dare to attempt a count, and the officers stood no chance. You watched in horror from under the tablecloth as the officers exited the car as you were desperately hoping they would stay inside. They shot at the creatures, which may have momentarily stunned them as they were slower in their approach. But it was not enough, and the hoard of monsters descended on the officers who were unable to do anything but fall to the ground and turn into creatures themselves. 

How long would you have to stay here? You couldn’t stay hidden under a table forever, and with the monsters distracted by the police officers, this would be your best chance. So you reluctantly crawled out of the back of the tablecloth, now pressing your back against it as you looked around it to see the monsters beginning to roam. This really couldn’t get any worse. You didn’t even know where to go, the subway station was at least a ten-minute walk back, and those creatures were in the way!  

You closely watched the creatures as they roamed around, one coming too close for comfort and you held deadly still until it lost interest and flew past you. You were trying to stay calm but it was hard when its mouth stinger was as long as your arm. You let a few moments of potential escape pass by, too scared to do anything as you let your chances of escape run thinner and thinner. You took a deep breath as you watched a creature near you turn its back; you had to do this now. You couldn’t give the monsters a chance to get curious about your hiding spot before you made your move. 

You stood up quickly, walking as quietly as you could to a nearby alleyway that you hoped no monsters had gone down. You put a hand on the wall to steady yourself, trying to remember to breathe as you stared at the creature’s back as it looked in the window of a store opposite the bakery. You felt your heart beating rapidly as you inched the final few feet to the alleyway, taking your eyes away from the creature in order to dash into the alleyway beside you. 

You were looking over your shoulder at the creature when you smacked straight into something, falling back onto your butt with a yelp. You quickly covered your mouth, turning behind you to look at the creature and noticing that it had turned around and was heading in your direction. You were brought back to your own situation when you heard a groan from right in front of you. Turning, your startled eyes met with a pair of brown eyes that looked confused as they met yours. 

You were staring at a boy who looked to be your age, with spiky blonde hair who was now staring at you with what you would politely call interest. You quickly took in his outfit; khaki pants and red sneakers with a black t-shirt with an open half-red, half-yellow short-sleeved button-up shirt over it. You couldn’t take too long to look at him however, as there was a monster closing the gap between you as it flew across the street.  

You stood up quickly, about to run further into the alleyway when the guy stopped you in your tracks, his hand gripping your arm. 

“Hey, I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?” 

You stared at him dumbly. Nothing about him seemed familiar to you, and besides, you weren’t from around here anyways, so he had no reason to have ever seen you. You were about to reply and tell him that he couldn’t have seen you before, when he continued. 

“No, I know where I’ve seen you... my dreams!” 

 _Really?_  You hadn’t heard one of those stupid pick-up lines in a long time, and this was really not the time. You just stared at him in disbelief before he was pushed to the side from behind him as a girl with brown hair and an angry expression came into your view, grabbing the guy by his arm. 

“Leave her alone, Martin!” she shouted. “And besides, we have bigger problems right now!” The girl gestured to the giant mosquito man who was getting closer and closer to the alley. Rolling her eyes, she pushed the protesting boy towards where the monster was. As she passed you, she gave you an annoyed smile. “Sorry about my idiot brother, he’s going to stop bothering you now.” 

You could do nothing but smile awkwardly back as she continued to push, and a very broad man with dark hair and a bright yellow shirt ran past you and took over from the brunette girl in restraining the boy whose name you could now assume was Martin. 

“Hey, Jav, stop! Put me down, Java! I was talking to her!” Martin protested as the man picked him up to drag him towards the creatures. 

You weren’t sure what to do; if they were heading towards them, then they evidently knew what they were doing, but they didn’t look like people who could fight giant bug monsters. Well, the very large man did, but you weren’t sure about the other two. 

“No talk to girls. Martin fight bugs,” the broad man responded as the three left the alleyway in the direction of the bug that was now loudly buzzing, attracting more to the area. 

You needed to leave immediately. You had no time to worry about the trio. They seemed fine, and you weren’t going to be any help fighting bug monsters anyways, so you should just get out of their way and let the odd group handle things from here. With one last glance at the amassing group of giant purple mosquitos swarming, you turned around and began to dash out of the alleyway. 

As was your usual for today, your situation went from bad to worse as you turned a corner and dashed towards the exit that would take you closer to the train... and skidded to a halt as the bright purple monster you had seen transform the worker in the bakery was directly in front of you. You tried to slowly walk backwards away from it, but it was insistent, closing any gap you made between the two of you. Its giant predatory eyes were focused solely on you as you backed your way into the alleyway again, unable to shake the bug which slowly advanced on you. You had to try something else at this point... maybe it spoke English? 

“Um, I wouldn’t make a very good mosquito, I don’t like blood, I can’t even watch gory horror movies!” you rambled desperately as you kept backing up. 

“It does not matter,” the bug hissed as it continued forward towards you. “All the puny humans will become part of us. I saw you in that building, and I will not let any escape.” 

Oh god. Choice words came to mind, but you figured now the bug wasn’t going to be swayed by your weak arguments, and he was currently blocking the way towards the other street, so you would have no choice but to go back unless you wanted to be a human-sized bug monster. 

“I’m just going to go...” you said slowly. “No need to follow me!” 

You fell back in a sudden attempt to dodge the creature as it flew forward to jab at you with its elongated stinger-mouth. You screamed at the sudden attack, barely managing to avoid it. You stumbled to your feet and ran forward, looking over your shoulder to see the mosquito man angrily buzzing after you. You were trying to run forward while keeping an eye behind you to see how much the creature was gaining on you, and somehow managed to look forward just in time to avoid running the blonde guy over as he stood facing you. You skidded to a stop just in front of him and he put a hand on either of your upper arms to steady you. 

“The ladies always come back for more,” he said, seeming happy. 

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re surrounded!” the girl chastised him. “Besides, no girl is going to want to go out with you when you get turned into a giant mosquito if we don’t do something!” 

“I would totally be a hit with the mosquito babes!” Martin protested, offended. But his eyes weren’t meeting yours or his supposed sister’s, they were on the rapidly approaching monster coming from behind you. “But you’re right. We need to get out of here, fast!” 

“Java, do you think you could-” the girl started, looking at a nearby bench on the street. 

“Java squish!” the large man gleefully announced, grabbing the bench that you were pretty sure was attached to the ground with little effort, eyes narrowing in focus at the electric purple creature that had been chasing you. You desperately watched the group just ahead of you on the street as they began to close in on you, but your eyes were turned away from the scene as Martin grabbed your shoulder and pulled you to the ground with him. You wanted to yell at him, but then a bench came sailing right over where your head was and towards the original bug monster only ten feet away from your group. The monster was able to swerve to the side, the bench barely clipping it, but the blow made it fall to the ground. Turning, you saw that the group of bug monsters had stopped in their tracks, not moving or doing anything but staring in the direction of the monster. 

“What are they doing?” the girl said, getting back on her feet as the rest of your group stood up as well. 

You should probably voice your developing thoughts. “I think that’s the original one. I watched it turn a bakery worker into one of those things.” 

“It’s the king, eh?” Martin replied. “Thanks, ba-” 

“We probably need to beat that creature to return everyone to normal," the girl smoothly interrupted Martin’s flirting, ignoring him. She seemed to know what she was talking about, and the incessant flirting was making you really embarrassed, so you smoothly left Martin’s side to be closer to her. She gave you a small smile, turning to the largest member of their party. “Java, can you keep those other monsters away?” 

Java looked at the group of creatures that was beginning to recover their senses at the same time the boss creature regained its composure, hissing angrily. “You will all join the colony!” it screeched, advancing the final ten feet. 

Martin quickly pressed a finger to the watch you didn’t notice that he was wearing. 

“X-Rod selected,” the watch beeped, and a long staff appeared out of thin air to your amazement. Though you should really be more surprised by the mosquito creatures, this watch was clearly something crazy as well. Martin grabbed a hold of the staff, twirling it a few times as he stared at the advancing creature. 

You weren’t sure what to do, as your personal space dwindled as the bug creatures on both sides began to close in on you. 

“Mine... mine...” the boss hissed as it drew closer to you, only to growl when Martin smacked it in the face with his staff, and it backed up slightly in fury. 

“I will turn you first!” the creature howled at Martin as it reared up for another attack. 

Behind you, Java was throwing anything he could at the mosquito people that advanced on you. But he was running out of things to throw. The brunette was paying close attention to the situation, looking worried since their large friend clearly couldn’t hold them off forever, and was beginning to show signs of exertion. 

“We’ve got to wrap this up!” the girl cried, looking back and forth between the two sides. 

You were considering grabbing your phone to call emergency services, hoping the call would connect even if your phone plan wouldn’t be active until next week. One of the pockets of your bag was unzipped, and you found a shiny aluminum can poking out of the pocket. You grabbed it, seeing the logo and recalling the summer before when there was a big mosquito problem in your hometown, and you had to carry bug spray on you at all times. Well if there was ever a need for bug spray, it was now. 

Martin was spinning his staff when you tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back to you and you held up the can, offering it to him. “I found this in my bag, it might work on giant bugs too?” 

Martin’s face lit up in a grin. “You’re a lifesaver!” 

His smile made your face feel hot. He was so cheesy and you didn’t want him to notice that he was having an effect on you, but he did have a really nice smile. You turned your head to look away as he took the bug spray from your hand, looking past you to Java. 

“Hey Jav, can we get one more in this direction?” he called out. 

Java gave an excited thumbs up despite his clear strain from throwing so many things. You could see lots of mosquito men knocked out of the sky who were clearly unable to dodge his projectiles. Java rushed over to the side, knocking a mosquito man over with a shove from his shoulder as he picked up the only other bench in the area as you and the other girl scrambled to get out of the way. Martin simply ducked as the bench came sailing over him and smacked the unsuspecting mosquito monster straight in the chest, knocking him over. 

“Okay, my turn!” Martin shouted and pressed a button on his staff, causing a net to come out of one end, ensnaring the creature. 

“Hurry, they’re still coming!” the girl shouted. 

Martin raced over to the creature as it spat out insult after insult, struggling as best it could but still hopelessly trapped in the net. Martin eyed it with a smirk, hand on his hip. “Not so scary now, are you?” 

His bragging was cut off by both of his friends yelling his name in exasperation. 

“Fine,” Martin acquiesced, looking back with an annoyed expression at his companions before turning back to the head bug. “You’ve bit your last bite!” 

And with that, Martin sprayed the bug all over with your bug spray. Immediately the giant bug shrieked in pain as it writhed beneath the net, and Martin didn’t stop spraying until it felt back. Unconscious or dead, you weren’t sure. Turning around, you watched as the rest of the mosquito men and women fell from the sky and laid prone on the floor as they began to change back into their human selves. Right then, a large number of black cars began to pull up in the area and groups of people in all-white shirts, pants and hats began to exit the cars en masse. You watched as they began to collect the unconscious people and carry them into the cars, one group of them swarming the mosquito monster and placing it in some sort of containment cube. Should you be concerned...? 

While you stared, confused, at the scene before you, you felt an arm wrap around your shoulder. You spun around and escaped the arm to see Martin standing before you, looking at you with a face that you figured he thought was suave. “So, now that that’s all over, how about we go on a date? I know a great place with-” 

“There will be no dates, Martin,” a stern female voice rang out from behind you, causing Martin to groan in defeat. 

“Oh come on!” he complained, and the woman, with dark hair and in a white outfit, merely raised an eyebrow as she stared at him, challenging him to defy her. 

“She’s being taken to the center to have her memory erased.” 

What? You were momentarily stunned, but it did make sense. If this was some fancy supernatural investigation department, of course they wouldn’t want random people remembering outbreaks of supernatural creatures. Still, the thought of having your memories erased freaked you out. 

“Come on, can’t you just erase her memory of the bug things? You can leave in any memories with me in them!” he said in an attempt to appeal to her. 

“Her memories of the creatures all involve you, so yes, they will be removed as well,” she said, leaving no room for discussion to a pouty Martin. “Now, you need to come with our agent.” 

Realizing she was addressing you, you nodded. You were initially upset about losing memories, but Martin had rubbed you the wrong way, wanting your memories erased except any of him. What a jerk. 

“Wait, I didn’t even get to-” Martin protested as he went to follow you and the female agent who was escorting you to her car. You turned your head away and didn’t look back at him. 

“Have your previous failures taught you nothing, Martin?” the girl said. “You just said you were okay with them erasing most of her memories. You really think she wants to go out with you after hearing that?” 

“Oh, yeah. When’s the last time you were on a date, Diana?” Martin retorted. 

You were glad at least one of the siblings understood how girls worked, probably because she was also a girl. You were momentarily sad that you couldn’t befriend Diana because of your impending memory erasure. You could only hope that you would run into her at some point after and get to hang out. Her brother, however, you were certainly eager to forget. Martin didn’t attempt to make any further runs after you as the agent brought you into her car and began to drive. 

The drive was a short one as you discovered when the agent turned into a large poster on the wall, or at least you thought it was a poster, that had a large blue-tinted garage on it. You freaked out for a moment, thinking she was about to drive you into a wall, but the car passed smoothly into the poster and you found yourself in a garage exactly like the one on the poster. Before you had a chance to ask any questions, the woman opened the door for you and directed you to a lineup of a few people who you guessed also witnessed what had happened. 

“You will be directed back here after your memory is erased and I will return you to your home,” the agent told you without any emotion in her voice. 

You figured there was nothing more that you were going to get out of her as she left to go sit behind the wheel again to wait for you to come back. You were still undecided if losing your memory was a good thing or not as you pondered while in line. Supernatural creatures clearly existed, but you would be none the wiser in a few short moments. A red-haired woman in a white ensemble held up a silver device that looked like a cross between a mirror and stapler. She held the device up to a man who was very disgruntled and had to be held in place by two other staff members as he struggled. The woman then pressed the stapler-looking part and a flash came from the device, which made the man go limp for a moment in the grasp of the other agents. 

“Mr. Ralford?” the red-haired woman asked. 

“What?” he replied angrily. “Who are you? What was this? I was in my reading chair with my paper and-” 

“Mr. Ralford, you will be driven home now,” was all the woman said as the man was dragged off, still complaining, to a car which then drove off. 

You watched the same process happen three more times, but with people who were less-resistant. The anticipation was really killing you; if you had to have your memories erased, you wanted it done right now so you could stop worrying about it. You wished you could recall the supernatural but knew that this was your last few seconds of having a full memory as the lady in front of you was taken off to her waiting car and it was your turn. The lady looked down at a clipboard another agent was holding, calling your last name, and at your nod, held up the shiny memory erasing device. 

You stared into it, feeling scared despite knowing that everyone else had seemed fine minus their most recent memories being taken. The agent ensured that you were looking at the device before pressing down on it yet again as a flash came off that she was entirely unaffected by. You absently said goodbye to your memories as they left... or so you thought. 

You stared at her, not feeling any different, or missing any memory. She just used the device, it had to happen now. You noticed she was looking at you impatiently and you couldn’t help but mislead her now that you were given the chance. 

“Where am I...?” you said softly, scared that she might she through your lie. 

She waved you off. “You will be driven home now.” 

And with that, you were escorted to the car you were just in, and the agent drove you home normally, filling you in on some fake story about a gas leak causing your unconsciousness and memory loss. You accepted her explanation entirely, not giving off any hint that you knew exactly what had happened earlier that day. She let you get out and go back to your hotel, entirely satisfied that you were fooled into believing her story. 

You let out a sigh of relief as you walked back up to your hotel room. You initially accepted the loss of your memories when given no other choice and no chance to resist, but now that their device had failed to work on you, you were going to keep the memories. If you ever saw that group around, you would go out of your way to avoid them, not wanting to slip up around them and have them report you to their supernatural agency. You didn’t even want to think about what supernatural creature jail was like, and you weren’t going to give anybody a chance to make you find out. 

It was finally move in day and you couldn’t wait. You had spent the rest of your time before move in day hiding in your hotel room and only leaving to get food at places close to the hotel. You didn’t want to risk the organization thinking that anything was up, but at the same time it made you too nervous to go outside. 

You dragged the last of your suitcases into your dorm building, glad to finally be free of that awful hotel. There had been a lot of people moving into dorms which led to a lot of weaving through crowds while hoping nobody would steal any of your suitcases. That had worked out in your favor so far, as your suitcases were all still in the not very populated stairway you had hid them in. You were only about halfway through bringing all the belongings you had packed up and were already exhausted. You had hoped they might have volunteers who helped move belongings, but either they weren’t there or they were busy because you couldn’t find anybody. 

You walked back down the stairs, wondering how you could possibly do the rest of this, when you heard voices coming from just outside the door of the stairwell where your remaining suitcases were. 

“This has got to be the dumbest thing you’ve tried yet,” a voice scolded. 

“That’s where you’re wrong, Di!” another voice boasted. One that was so familiar to you that you could easily recognize who it belonged to. And who he was likely talking to. 

“Please, then enlighten me on how harassing new students is going to get you a girlfriend,” Diana reply, clearly unamused. You couldn’t see them through the closed door, but you could picture what her face looked like. 

You weren’t sure what to do. You wanted to get the rest of your bags, but you didn’t want them to hear you. You didn’t even consider that the paranormal investigators went to this school, and with the knowledge that they did, you had to stay away from them at all costs. But a duffle bag on top of some of the suitcases had all your underwear in it, and you were not prepared to go commando until you could go out and get more. Strengthening your resolve, you slowly tiptoed down the last half-flight of stairs towards your bags, prepared to carry more than you would be able to handle easily if it would get you out of this situation. 

“You don’t get it, Di! I’m sure any girl would love the help carrying in their stuff, and then afterwards when they’re all unpacked, they’ll be extra grateful and-” 

“I can’t hear any more of this! I’m going back up to my room!” Diana replied in a huff. 

You couldn’t really disagree with her. But unfortunately for you, her room was up some stairs. The stairs you were currently on to be exact. You were reaching for one of your bags, unable to hide anywhere in time as Diana opened the door and stopped in her tracks as she saw you. You made eye contact with her for a few awkward seconds as your brain screamed at you that you had to pretend like you had your memory erased. You felt your world stop for a second but forced yourself to smile at her and pick up your bag like normal. You would take them back to your room like normal and then promptly avoid Diana, Martin and Java like the plague. 

“What are you staring at?” Martin asked from behind Diana, peering over her shoulder to look at you as your eyes drifted up to meet his unintentionally.  

You were frozen in place with both staring at you now, neither party saying anything. You had to fix this; they couldn’t know that you knew their secret. You put a very forced smile on your face as you picked up a second bag, slinging it over your shoulder. 

“Sorry, I’m moving my bags out of here, they’ll be out of the way soon,” you said, forcing each word out as you robotically turned around and headed back up the stairs. You didn’t want to stay longer as every second was another chance for you to slip up. The bags were heavy, but you ignored the pain in your arms as much as you could. 

“Hey, wait!”  

You reluctantly turned around slowly at Diana’s call. You were really anxious but hoping it didn’t show on your face as you looked at her and waited for her to talk. 

“How was your weekend?” she said, trying to sound cheerful but instead coming out as questioning. 

This had to be an attempt to figure out if you really didn’t remember. You couldn’t wait too long before answering unless you wanted to seem more suspicious, so you shook your head. “Pretty boring actually. If you don’t mind, these bags are getting heavy so I’m gonna go.” 

You got only a few more steps up as whispers rang out between the two people at the foot of the stairs before you heard footsteps behind you and your bags were taken from your arms. You looked over, startled to see Martin on the stairs beside you, carrying your bags. Looking from him to Diana, you noticed that she grabbed your last suitcase that was still at the bottom of the stairs, pulling it with her up the stairs to where you and Martin were. 

“You looked like you could use some help,” she said, noticing your confused expression. “I’m Diana, and this is Martin. You’re new here, right?” 

You could only nod as they walked with you up the stairs. Why couldn’t you catch a break lately? You kept silent out of both fear and awkwardness, but the siblings didn’t stay quiet for long. 

“So,” Martin said, grabbing your attention as you hesitantly looked at him. “Seen any good monster movies lately?” 

Diana glared at him, and Martin gave her a sheepish look at he shut up. Diana rolled her eyes as your group came to your floor, exiting the stairwell. Diana looked frustrated but forced herself to be calm and pleasant again. 

“What Martin means to say is, are you from around here? I haven’t seen you at Torrington University before,” she commented. 

She was not letting up on the questions. Your mind was beginning to drift into what other methods the agency used to keep people from telling anyone their secrets. You were getting a little too carried away with your imagination and had forgotten that Diana asked you a question for a moment. You told Diana where you were from and she nodded as you finally reached your dorm room with the door you had left unlocked, opening it so Martin and Diana could put your bags down on the floor. 

You thanked them for helping you with a smile, hoping that meant that they would leave you alone. Diana had been nothing but chatty and pleasant with you while Martin was quiet, studying your face the whole time after Diana had interrupted him, and it was really freaking you out. You would have rather talked about monster movies with Martin than endure any more of Diana’s questioning. You grabbed one of your bags, placing it on the dorm-provided bed and turning back to see Diana angrily elbowing Martin in his side as they quietly bickered. 

“Do whatever you want, Martin. I’m leaving!” she spat and turned around on her heel and stormed from the room, and you felt a great relief. But Martin was still here, and you focused your attention on him. 

“Uh, hey... I never got your name,” he said awkwardly, walking over to stand near you. 

You laughed. At least he wasn’t trying to interrogate you like his sister was. You told him your name and he grinned, running a hand through his hair. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Martin Mystery, gentleman extraordinaire! So, now that we’re better acquainted, do you wanna-” 

His line was interrupted by a shout of surprise as Java picked Martin up again, this time wearing what looked to be some sort of janitorial uniform. Martin looked back at his friend and scowled, which made you giggle as you watched them bicker. 

“Diana sent you, didn’t she?” Martin accused, struggling to get Java to put him down. 

“Diana say no flirting.” Was the large man’s response. 

“I wasn’t-” Martin closed his mouth momentarily with a frown at Java’s deadpan look. “Okay, well who cares if I was flirting a little! You don’t always have to do what Diana says, Jav!” 

“I’ll take it from here, Java,” Diana said from the hallway as she approached. “Martin here promised me that he would clean his room today.” 

Java smiled at Diana, happily placing Martin beside Diana in the hallway. 

“Oh come on, you just made that up!” Martin said angrily. 

“Actually, you did say it. Right here.” Diana pointed to her phone, showing Martin something on it. 

“I was being sarcastic! Something you know nothing about, miss serious!” he argued back. 

While Martin and Diana argued, Java approached you with a friendly smile, brushing the palm of his hand on his pants quickly before holding out a hand. “Me Java.” 

Well, you had to give it to him, he certainly knew how to make a better first impression than Martin. Putting your hand in his, he shook your hand with a bit too much eagerness, and you cradled your slightly in pain hand to your chest once he let go. 

“Thanks, Java,” you said with a smile, glad that one member of the group was neither too suspicious nor too flirty towards you. 

“It all good,” Java said. “Java see you around.” 

“Yes, we’ll see you around!” Diana added before Java closed the door behind them. 

You slumped back on your bed as soon as they left. They were really exhausting, and Diana still hadn’t seemed to give up her suspicions, but at least she got Martin out of your room. The last thing you needed here was to immediately get into a fling with some guy who already seemed prone to flirting with any girls he saw, if his plan from earlier was any indication. 

You texted a friend about your situation, receiving their sympathies for the weird occurrences around you, though you didn’t tell them anything about the bug monsters. The supernatural agency might have your phone tapped and you were not willing to risk prison time for a little venting to a friend. You laid in your new bed for a while, not wanting to unpack but knowing that you had to. If you didn’t want to live out of boxes for your entire time here, you would have to get up to deal with it. With that thought in mind, you forced yourself up and over to a box that had some of your clothing in it. 

When you opened a box, one of your favorite scarves fell out and drifted to the side. Annoyed, you reached over to pick it up, grabbing it to put on the bed. As soon as you moved the scarf, you noticed a white card with a barcode on it. Picking it up, you turned it over to see that it was Martin’s student ID, which was likely lost when Java picked him up so suddenly. The ID card had a picture of Martin that looked to have been taken a few years before since he looked slightly younger. He must have gone here for all three years prior, unlike your case of transferring in your last year. 

You didn’t want to have to talk to Martin again, but you had to return his card since you needed student IDs for a lot of things on campus. You had been planning on getting yours before your first class tomorrow, and you supposed Martin would need his but talking to him one-on-one again was making you nervous. You put the ID in your purse; you had already wasted an afternoon texting instead of unpacking, so you decided to go out to buy some food and give Martin his ID after you ate. 

Finding a nice take-out place near campus, you got your food to go and headed back to your dorm room. The campus was fairly quiet in the late afternoon; everyone must have been unpacking or out partying because you only crossed paths with a few quiet people who kept to themselves, which was a relief since you didn’t need any more excitement today. 

Finding the password for the campus Wi-Fi on a poster as you entered your dorm, you took a quick picture of the name and password on your phone and logged into it when you got back in your sparsely decorated room. You found the bag that had your laptop in it, plugging it in and connecting it to the internet as you found a video to watch while you ate. While you were at it, you loaded a private tab and did a search for every term you could think of to describe what had happened with the giant mosquito monster, with no relevant search results. Nobody was talking about the attack on any social media site. Whoever those people in white were, they sure did a good cover-up job. 

You lamented your situation as you finished eating and walked over to throw your wrappers in the trash. It wasn’t worth it to try talking to anyone about it; you would be labelled crazy and anyone who believed you would probably be silenced by this unknown agency. Plus, it wasn’t worth complicating your life for an article in a newspaper that would likely read _girl attacked by mosquito monsters shares her story_. You’d end up as clickbait for crazies which was far from what you wanted, and so you would stay silent and keep this secret. And as soon as you gave Martin back his ID, you would avoid him entirely for the rest of your time here. 

Reluctantly, you stood up and left your room. The ID card didn’t say which dorm Martin was in, so you planned on asking whoever was at the front desk on the first floor. If it wasn’t too late and everyone had gone home, that is. You walked all the way down two floors and headed over to the front desk to see that it was empty. Looking around showed you that it had been empty for some time. Great. You groaned out loud, not sure what the next move was. 

“Uh, you okay?” came a female voice from behind you. 

You turned around to see a girl a few feet behind you, having just come in the front door. She had light orange hair that went to her shoulders and was wearing a short black dress and heels with a purse slung over her shoulder. She looked like she had just come home from clubbing. 

“Oh...” This was embarrassing. Look like an idiot on your first day here, great plan. “I’m looking for Martin Mystery, if you could tell me where-” 

“Ugh!” She looked disgusted as she sneered. “Why are you looking for that freak?” 

You quickly held up his ID card so she could see it. “I found his ID card and wanted to return it.” 

You conveniently left out the part where he forgot it in your room, scared to have her annoyance in your direction. You really didn’t want to anger anybody at the head of the social food chain. If you could just have a peaceful year here, you would be very happy. 

“Oh,” she said. “Yeah, I know where his room is. I’ll show you,” she said, rolling her eyes, but leading you towards an elevator that you didn’t know existed. Would have really helped when you were bringing your stuff in... 

“So, are you new?” she asked suddenly. 

“Yes,” you managed to say. “First semester here.” 

She laughed. “Explains why you don’t know about Martin.” 

You were confused. Did Martin have some sort of weird reputation here? He had better not be a murderer because then you were turning his student ID into the police. Without you needing to say anything in reply, she continued. 

“Resident weirdo. He’s been like this since high school. Hit on me every time he saw me for years. Didn’t give up until I finally got a boyfriend,” she said with a laugh. “Oh, my name is Jenni, by the way. I live on the third floor.” 

You gave her your name. “That’s my floor too!” 

“Cool,” she replied. “If you’re new here, you must not have made any connections yet. We should hang out. I can get you into the best parties around here.” 

“That would be great.” You didn’t know if these parties would be your thing or not, but you didn’t want to burn bridges with the first normal person you'd met so far. Well, besides Java, who you would definitely hang out with again.  

Jenni had pressed the button for the floor above yours, and the elevator opened as you reached the fourth floor. She strutted out of the elevator, walking down the hall until she reached a room opposite a window at the end of the hall. The door had some weird sticker that looked like goo or something on it, but Jenni paid it no mind, banging her hand on the door. 

“Hey dweeb, open up!” she shouted. 

You felt the awkwardness creep up. Jenni seemed to have no problem yelling on a weekday evening in a probably-crowded dorm, and you were hoping nobody tried to pick a fight with you over it. Luckily, the hallway remained empty except for the two of you. You heard some scrambling and the sound of something falling to the ground before the door was thrust open and Martin, now wearing his black shirt minus the blazer from earlier, leaned against the doorframe. 

“Hey, Jenni. Changed your mind about that midnight stroll?” he asked. 

“Drop dead,” she replied in a monotone before stepping to the side to reveal you right behind her. “She wanted to see you, so my job is done now.” 

Jenni walked away a bit before turning back with a wave and calling out your name. “You should come to the next party, I’ll find you on our floor!” 

And with that, Jenni walked back to the elevator and was soon gone, leaving you alone with Martin who was still leaning against his doorframe and looking split between excitement and confusion. Still, he decided to try again. 

“So, what brings you to the Mystery abode?” he inquired. 

You reached in your bag before replying to pull out his ID card. “You left this in my room.” 

You held it out to him and he took it, seeming a bit off-put that you hadn’t come here because you had fallen head over heels in love with him. He took the card, putting it in his pants pocket where it had likely been before it fell. After he had finished that, he looked back at you with a facial expression that you knew likely meant trouble unless you got out of here. You didn’t even let him speak as you turned around and ran down the hall to the elevator. 

“Hey, wait!” 

You did not heed Martin’s call as you quickly entered the elevator without sparing a glance back. The elevator ride down gave you time to reflect on the choices you had made. Even with the pick-up line he had used upon first meeting you, he hadn’t completely ruined his chances in your books. You had to admit he was kind of cute, but the rational side of your brain knew that you couldn’t get involved. Kind of cute was not worth having to lie to him constantly about your memories of the monster attack, and definitely not since his interactions with Jenni had made it abundantly clear that he was not a one-woman type of guy. You felt really stupid for thinking that his treatment towards you was a rare occurrence. At least Jenni seemed nice and going with her to a campus party wouldn’t be the worst thing you had ever done. 

When you got back to your room you were relieved to see nothing and nobody outside. You were paranoid that Diana could sense when you left your room and would come bother you again, but you were lucky this time. Now if you could just not have any classes with her you would be good and could easily avoid running into her. 

 

 

The next morning, late in the morning, Diana knocked loudly on her step-brother's door, knowing he would probably still be in bed, but she remained unsympathetic as Martin always slept in late unless she woke him up herself. It was a wonder he even got into university with his terrible habits. 

“Martin!” she shouted, not bothering to worry about her volume since it was almost afternoon. “Get up and open this door!” 

She heard a loud groan from inside, some shuffling noises, and then the door was opened to reveal Martin, who looked like he hadn’t slept enough, which may be true depending on if one of his gross video games were just released, Diana figured. It was a constant source of irritation that she had never been able to convince him to stick to more productive hobbies like studying and yoga. She had tried the yoga one, but Martin had been kicked out of the class for ogling girls, which Diana was not able to live down and had to switch yoga studios. 

“Don’t you know what time it is?” Martin said tiredly, rubbing his eyes but not bothering to tame his hair that had been messed up more than it usually was in his sleep. 

“No, it’s _you_  that doesn’t know what time it is, Martin!” Diana replied angrily. “You were supposed to meet me and Java in my room two hours ago! Java had to work, so the meeting will just have to be us now!” 

Diana pushed past Martin and into his room, pinching a finger over her nose at the sight of many pieces of garbage and clothing on Martin’s floor. “This is disgusting, Martin, I told you that you need to clean this before they do dorm inspections!” 

“I did...” Martin complained. “But that was two weeks ago...” 

“You got your room this dirty in two weeks!?” Diana shouted, incredulous even though she knew that she shouldn’t be surprised, she already knew Martin was a pig. 

Martin turned away from her in a huff, annoyed and still not fully awake. “What did you want, anyways? If this is another meeting that turns out to really be a study session, count me out.” 

“This is serious, Martin!” Diana insisted. “Didn’t you listen to what M.O.M. said?” 

“About the new girl?” Martin replied, frowning. “M.O.M.’s not always right, Di.” 

“She said her reaction to the memory device was suspicious and to observe her. M.O.M. interrogated the original bug monster we captured. It said that a human released it from its prison in the underground cave the Center had been keeping tabs on.” Diana reminded him. “We have to see if she’s acting weird and report back to the Center!” 

“The only weird thing about her is that she won’t go on a date with me,” Martin grumbled, turning back to face his step-sister. “Seriously, I would have noticed if something was wrong with her.” 

“You’re too busy staring at her butt to notice if her behavior is suspicious!” Diana was fuming. “You need to take your responsibilities to the Center seriously, Martin!” 

“Fine, I can interrogate her if you want. Maybe over coffee. Or she might be a milkshake kind of girl.” 

Diana couldn’t take any more of Martin’s stupidity. She turned on her heel and opened the door to his room, storming out with a shout of frustration. Martin didn’t say anything or make any moves to stop her, but she doubted anything he had to say at this point was worth any merit. It had been the same thing for years and years; whenever there was a pretty girl involved, Martin went gaga over them and ignored his responsibilities. Diana and Java had too many close calls with monsters because of Martin’s immaturity, and this time Diana wasn’t going to let anything bad happen. If Martin wanted to be an idiot, then fine, but Diana was going to find out what you knew. If you really did release that mosquito monster on the town of Sherbrooke, then Diana was going to arrest you and turn you in to the center, whether Martin had a crush on your or not. 


End file.
